Dave and Issy Sheehan

DaveandIssy

Dave and Issy Sheehan

Former TravelPod Member: the.sheehan
Joined: June 22nd, 2015

We live in Melbourne, Australia, with our three offspring Scott, Emma and Troy, Coco the dog, and cats Sidney and Chilli. As at 2015 our offspring have all left school and should, in theory at least, be capable of fending for themselves, so as long as they don't kill each other or burn the house down, we can now happily trip off into the sunset.

Issy was born in Malta. She came to Australia with her family when she was four, and as at early 2015 she's never been back.

I was born in London to Australian parents who met on a cruise ship, got married in England, had me, and then turned around and came home. I come from a long line of enthusiastic travellers, and was fortunate to have travelled a lot when I was growing up. My maternal great grandfather was a published travel writer, and even managed to die on a ship cruising to Noumea way back in 1933.



Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne September 19th 2023

So it’s day 100 or thereabouts, and today we finally head home. We’re starting to suspect that some countries are perhaps just slightly over-suspicious of us Aussies. We go through all the usual electronic security screening at Denpasar Airport and take our seats in the gate lounge. We’re then told we need to leave, and we can only go back in again after our hand luggage has been re-inspected, this time by hand, by a security guard. Huh? So sure enough a long queue forms outside the lounge while a single guard goes through everyone’s bags one by one. The time we were supposed to takeoff has come and gone, and security guard guy’s only done half the queue. And the question on everyone’s lips is of course "why", and why seemingly only for flights to ... read more

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Seminyak September 18th 2023

We’re both feeling a bit sad. Today’s the 99th and last full day of our sojourn, and whilst we are indeed feeling melancholy, this is the longest we’ve ever been away so it probably is time to go home. We have a very enjoyable beachside lunch with our friends Jane and Mark from Melbourne. They tell us that they come to Bali at least once a year. They’ve been over in Sanur on the slightly less frenetic east side of the island for a week and they’ve just arrived here in Seminyak where they’ll be spending another week before heading home. We’ve booked a car from the hotel for a late afternoon trip to the iconic Tanah Lot temple. Mr Google says it’s less than 20 kms away, but it’ll take an hour and a quarter ... read more
Pura Batu Bolong Temple
Tanah Lot
Pura Batu Bolong Temple

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Seminyak September 17th 2023

This is getting a bit monotonous - more sleeping in and missed breakfast followed by another arduous session on sunlounges by the pool. Ah, but today’s different - we both manage to summon up enough energy to go for a dip.…. Oops, I think we might have over exerted ourselves a little there. The solution, well that of course would be to fall asleep again. We were planning to take a late afternoon ride to Tanah Lot temple to watch the sunset, but by the time we stir from our slumbers it seems we’ve left our run a bit late; we’re told the sun will be long gone by the time we get there. We’ve only got one full day left here and we still haven’t ventured more than a few hundred metres from the hotel. ... read more
Seminyak Beach
Sunset watchers, Seminyak Beach
Religious festival, Seminyak Beach

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Seminyak September 16th 2023

We sleep through breakfast yet again, and then set up shop on sunlounges under a tree next to the pool. We can’t be bothered going in for dip, and we haven’t been more than a few hundred metres from the hotel since we got here three days ago. I know we came to Bali to relax at the end of our three month sojourn, but this seems to be taking things just slightly to extremes. Issy’s decided to extend the relaxation theme by having a massage. I’d rather stick pins in my eyes, so I’m planning to head out to take some happy snaps while she’s getting the living daylights pounded out of her. I’m just about to leave when she asks me if I’d mind taking some snaps of her lying on the table before ... read more

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Seminyak September 15th 2023

We keep the blackout blinds open overnight, but it doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference. Jetlag’s still got a firm hold and we miss breakfast yet again. The signs on the lift say not to use it if there’s a fire … or an earthquake. This is good advice I’m sure, but where are the stairs, or are we perhaps supposed to just jump over our room's balcony? I‘m suddenly glad we’re only on the first floor, although it’s still a fair drop even from there. There’s a palm tree a couple of metres out from the railing, so maybe we could leap out on to that and slide down to the ground if we really had to. I’m not finding that option all that appealing, so I head out in search of the ... read more
Relaxing
Seminyak Beach
Not quite sure what this is, but looked interesting

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Seminyak September 14th 2023

It seems the block out blinds in our hotel room are quite effective; we thought it was about 6am when we stirred from our slumbers, but a quick check of our devices suggests we were out by a bit, like say about six hours. I suppose that’s jet lag for you. So so much for breakfast; it looks like it’s straight on to lunch. It feels slightly strange to be completely surrounded by Aussies again after three months when they‘ve been a relative rarity. We head out for a wander down onto the wide grey sand of Seminyak Beach. The surf’s pounding in and signs on the flags recommend against swimming. I think there might be more motorbikes here than people … on the roads that is, not on the beach; the sand on the beach ... read more
Surf crashing in, Seminyak Beach
Seminyak Beach
Enjoying a late afternoon drink

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Seminyak September 13th 2023

12 September Today we start our tortuously long journey home with an eleven hour overnight flight to Singapore, which we’re looking forward to like a hole in the head. Then it’s on to Bali where we’re planning to spend a few days chilling before finally heading back to reality. We’re flying with Singapore Airlines’ low cost carrier Scoot for the first time. The fare was about half that for the real thing, and it seems you get what you pay for - I think I can squeeze into my seat, but I’m going to be spending most of the flight with my legs dangling out into the aisle - I hope I don’t get run over by a food trolley. And perhaps unsurprisingly you have to pay for everything, including charging your phone? Really? The lights ... read more

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka September 11th 2023

It’s an early start as we make our way back to Athens where we’ll be staying overnight before beginning the long haul back towards Oz. As far as we can tell there are hardly any flat pieces of land anywhere on Kalymnos. We’re flying to Athens which has got us a bit curious about where they might have managed to build the island’s airport. But no problem there it seems, they’ve just cut the side out of the top of one of the hills. We’re not used to getting stunning views from airports, but that’s exactly what we’ve got here. We must be up on one of the highest points on the island and we’ve got an excellent panorama down over the port and across towards the southern coast. The sunrise is spectacular. Now we’ve just ... read more

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Kalymnos September 10th 2023

Today’s the last full day of the art tour, which is making us both feel very sad. But what’s even sadder is not being able to enjoy it with the rest of the Rembrandts. Issy’s almost back to 100%, but we’re still feeling just slightly nervous about passing on the dreaded virus to others in the group. We decide to stay put while they head off on a boat to produce yet more masterpieces at a small garden over on the other side of Telendos Island. We spend the morning in the now familiar confines of our COVID isolation balcony. My itchy feet eventually need scratching so I head off for a wander. First up is the village harbour which is well populated with cute little fishing boats. The road around the waterfront is a tad ... read more
Myrties harbour
Myrties harbour and Telendos
Myrties

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Kalymnos September 9th 2023

Issy seems to be improving by the day, and I think cabin fever may well now have overtaken COVID as the biggest threat to her sanity, if not her health. The Rembrandts will apparently be spending the day “painting from a taverna on a stunning fjord” at Vathy on the other side of the island. We’re probably still too contagious to risk sitting in a bus with them, but I’m sure they‘ll produce some suitably realistic artwork to show us where they’ve been. It’s quite nice sitting up here on our balcony, or it would be if it wasn’t for the smell. It seems that the sewer at the hotel next door’s blocked, and a truck’s turned up to try to clear it out. Sewer problems are apparently almost a way of life in Greece. We ... read more
Pothia
Masouri Beach
Pothia waterfront




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